Could use some advice on decision making! (Yes, another Pickle vs Banana question.)

Long time reader, first time poster!
Looking into some sick boards for the upcoming season and I'm pretty torn between this decision. I'm looking into MTX/BTX boards and I've narrowed it down to the Lib Tech Skate Banana and GNU Park Pickle. Here's some background information of myself: 5'11, 175lbs, 10.5 size boot. I'm into almost everything on the mountain, not much of a jib person but would would love to get into it some more this season. Would love to all-mountain with this board and still be able to press and butter really well. Now, I'm aware that the Pickle is a bit stiff than the Banana but is it really going to make that much of a difference when it comes to butters? Would I be giving up too much if I went down to the 153 Pickle or 152 Banana?

Could definitely use some good advice out there. Skate Banana (152 or 156) or Pickle (153 or 156). Thanks in advance!

Sorry I know these forums get flooded with the same question, but I searched and searched and could not find anything that would help me.

i would try to stick with the 153 size more if you want to freeride still, the difference in size will not make it any harder to butter at all. ive never ridden the pickle but it sounds like it would be a little better for what you want. depending on how much money you have to spend never summer also has a couple a sick decks that have rocker.camber tech which would be way better for riding more of the mtn but still be able to butter the hell out of it, the evo-r and sl-r. the evo is a twin and would prob be better overall in park and the mtn.

Do you think sizing down from the Pickle from 156 to 153 would be giving up too much during higher speeds?
Or considering my height, weight, and boot size 153 is the size that I "should" be getting according to the size chart standards.

is this gonna be your only board or are you keeping your 156? sizing charts dont mean much so i wouldnt worry about that too much. i think you should be able to fit on a 153 find with a 10.5 boot fine. im pretty much the same size as you, just a little lighter, and i ride anywhere between 148-153. i wouldnt go any smaller than that at your size though.

Sorry, I left that information out in the original post. Currently riding a 158 Burton Mayhem which is a bit too stiff for what I'd like to do. I'm definitely getting rid of this board and picking up either the Pickle or Banana, so I'm differentiating between sizes. I ride east coast by the way, so the MTX would be amazing with the icy conditions over here.

well in that case if you think you'll be riding the mtn itself more than shredding the park the 156 may be the way to go. how much park would you say you ride/what do you ride while in the park? do you tend to stay around rails and smaller jumps or do you go for the bigger jumps?

I'm more into smaller jumps and I'm getting better at stomping landings off larger jumps so I'm hoping to progress with this board. As of now, I mainly ride all mountain and absolutely love doing ground tricks (ollies/nollies, nose/tail presses, butters, etc.) Which is why I was looking for the shorter board for softer flex. Again, I'm not really into rails or boxes.

the park pickle and banana are very similar, the main difference between these two is that the skate banana is a lot softer . you'll get MTX with both so ice wont be a problem. i think the pickle would be a better all around board especially if you plan on riding at high speeds, the banana is geared more toward slaying jibs and ripping up the park

So I guess you can say I'm currently deciding between sizes of the GNU Pickle. Still deciding between 153 or 156. You also agree that there isn't much of a difference as far as flex of the board goes between the two sizes? I'm aware that there isn't much of a difference in the 3cms, but I do plan on staying in the 170-175lb weight range if that helps at all. Thanks again.